Police: Man jumps counter at pharmacy, steals nearly $12K in pills

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INDIANAPOLIS – A man jumped over the counter at an Indianapolis-area pharmacy and threatened workers with a gun before getting away with nearly $12,000 in drugs.

“That is a substantial amount of narcotics,” said IMPD Officer Chris Wilburn.

According to a report from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the man entered the Walgreens in the 5500 block of Georgetown Road on the northwest side just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. He leapt over the counter, showed workers he had a gun and then demanded drugs.

A worker placed the drugs in a bag. The thief took the pain medications Oxycodone and Oxycontin along with Vyvanse, which is used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The man also demanded cough syrup after the worker placed the drugs in the bag, the report said.

The man ran out of the pharmacy with more than 2,300 pills worth approximately $11,900. Police said surveillance cameras captured the theft and are going through the footage for evidence.

“Obviously we are very concerned,” Wilburn said. “We’re asking if anyone notices increased activity in an individual selling narcotics to please let us know.”

The robbery comes as Indiana leads the nation in pharmacy robberies, and Indiana fatal overdoses have quadrupled over the last decade.

Steve Dubois, of Crime Stoppers, says he doesn’t know what’s driving the upward trend. But, he says, it could be a simple matter of word-of-mouth.

“I think there could be a group of people behind it, they’ve gotten together, they’ve talked.”

Dubois says crime waves often come and go like fashion trends.

“Just like real estate brokers talk, just like anyone else talks, criminals talk,” he said. “And we’ve seen it before in strip mall burglaries and catalytic converter thefts.”

Dubois says corporations like Walgreens and CVS are quietly taking steps to increase security in their stores, although they don’t like to talk publically about it. But he could not predict whether those steps will help slow a rising crime trend that seems to be feeding an increasing demand for prescription drugs.

Since all pharmacy robberies are automatically picked up as Crime Stoppers cases, anyone with information about Tuesday’s robbery can leave an anonynous tip.

That number is (317) 262-TIPS. Good information leading to an arrest and conviction could result in a $1,000 reward.